The Immortal Curse
by xox-hattii-xox
Summary: It hurts to watch those around you wither and die while you remain forever young. To watch what might have been be played out on your dearest friends faces. I must watch them all die around me and carry on throughout all of eternity.


A tall, dark figure slipped into a dimly lit bedroom, russet eyes darting over to the figure lying back against a mound of feathered pillows. The figure on the bed looked up from a frayed book resting on their lap at the entrance, brown eyes peering over a pair of round frame glasses.

Frizzy white hair spilled around the bedridden person's face as she smiled. "Hello, Jake."

"Leah," said Jacob, stepping fully into the room and letting his face come into the light. He stared at his old friend for a moment then took another step forward towards her bed. "I'm sorry about Daniel."

Leah Clearwater's brown eyes closed at that and she shook her head slightly, her glasses sliding down her nose at the motion. "He died twelve years ago, Jacob."

Jacob's eyes gleamed in the candle-light as he knelt by her side, "The last time I saw him he was just turning eighty,"

"You missed a lot hanging around with those leeches, Jake," Leah sighed, closing her book with a snap.

"I-"

"We don't blame you for it, Jacob. None of us ever did. So save the apologies,"

Jacob chuckled, shaking his head. "You haven't changed,"

"And you haven't aged a day, Black. What's your secret?"

"Immortal Imprint," He shrugged, smirking slightly as she laughed raspily.

"They oughta sell those." Leah grinned. "I'd buy one,"

Jacob shook his head at her then crossed over to the window, looking outside at the rainstorm that fell along the La Push horizon. From her bed, Leah watched him. It was good to see him in the flesh again after so long.

"How old are you?" he asked suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

"Ninety-Seven," She replied, smoothening the knitted blanket down.

Jacob nodded, then grinned, "I was always younger than you."

"I know, lucky bastard."

Jacob turned and looked back at her, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his golden wedding band.

"How's Nessie?" Leah asked, more out of courtesy than actual curiosity.

The broad shoulders slumped slightly and he leaned back against the window. "She's good."

"Any more kids on the way?"

"No, little Sarah's more than enough at the moment. Maybe in the next hundred years..."

"How can you be so blasé about immortality?" Leah snapped before settling back against her pillows. Then she smiled. "But I bet your Mom would be proud you named your kid after her,"

"I hope so,"

"How old is Sarah now?"

"Technically she's five, but she looks about ten,"

"Any photos?"

Jacob dug in his pocket and pulled out a leather wallet, now complete with a black credit card – courtesy of the Cullens – and retrieved a small photo; a bronze-haired woman who looked to be about eighteen stood hanging onto a Jacob from a few months ago. Standing at their feet was an incredibly pale skinned girl with black ringleted-curly hair and huge brown eyes.

"She's lovely."

"You're her Godmother, you know," Jacob added, sliding away the wallet. "You and Seth,"

Leah smiled through her wrinkles. "That's very sweet of you. And Renesmee,

They were silent for a long moment, one perched in the bed she could barely move from anymore and the other a silent shadow next to the window. Then Leah leaned forward, patting the edge of her bed with a wrinkled hand.

"Sit down, idiot."

Smirking at her, Jacob turned and moved towards the bed, carefully easing himself down beside her frail form.

Leah reached out and slid her hand into his, her aged russet flesh against young, smiling at him.

"Do you see much of Seth?" She asked, smiling at point slightly above his left shoulder where he knew a picture of her younger brother hung.

"Not as much as we used to," Jacob sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He's still out there, chasing down his imprint,"

Leah sighed regretfully. "I don't know why he's so obsessed," She shook her head.

"Everybody wants a piece of happiness, Leah," Jacob reprimanded lightly.

"How did you get so mature?" Leah laughed noisily. "I still remember you as the little boy who used to eat paste,"

"And I remember you as the one who gave me the paste to eat in the first place," Jacob chuckled, feeling Leah's pulse falter slightly under his hands. He frowned, looking the wrinkled digits.

"I'm old, Jake," Leah muttered, recognizing his thought pattern. "I'm old and I'm dying,"

"Don't say tha-"

"Shut up, Jacob!" She cut him off with a stern glare that simply proved she was still the fiery tempered girl from their youth. She exhaled loudly. "I don't care anymore. I was terrified about leaving before Daniel, but now I know he's waiting for me." She shrugged. "It ain't so scary anymore,"

Brown eyes stared into brown for an achingly long moment before they were both startled by the sound of footsteps up the staircase of the house.

"Jacob?" A ringing voice echoed along the corridor until a head full of coppery curls poked around the doorway. "Hello Leah,"

"Renesmee," Leah nodded her head before lying back on her pillow to allow the two some privacy.

"Everyone ready?" Jacob asked, trying to listen for the tell-tale sounds of their daughter bounding around somewhere nearby.

"Mom and Dad are just at the cemetery, laying flowers of Grandpa Charlie's grave," Renesmee sniffed slightly, dabbing away few flecks of tears. "I laid mine earlier, I was just visiting Claire,"

"How is she?" Jacob hadn't seen Quil in a while.

"Good, just getting old, I guess," Renesmee shrugged, trying to brush off the fact that was troubling her so much. Claire had been her childhood friend around La Push and Jacob knew it hurt her as much as it hurt him to see Leah.

The two heard it at the same time; the sound of a heartbeat stopping.

He looked at Leah then but found none of the reassurance he had sought. Instead he came to realize that the hand he'd been clutching at had gone cold and that the life was gone from the body lying in front of him.

His Beta was gone.

Slowly he rose, laying Leah's hand on top of her chest and then gently placing the photograph of Daniel in her palm. He then leaned forward and gently kissed her cheek, frizzy hair tickling his mouth and nose as he whispered, "Goodbye. Thankyou for everything."

Renesmee looked up at him helplessly as he walked towards her, tears gleaming at the corners of her eyes. As soon as he reached her she began to sob.

Jacob enclosed her in a hug, gently ushering her out of the room and closing the door behind them. He held her as tears streaked down his own face and she cried into his chest.

"Come on, Ness," He whispered, grabbing at her hand like a life-line. "We need to find Sarah,"

It hurt like no other pain to watch those he had grown up with, laughed with, fought with, wither and die around him.

Jacob knew, more than anyone, the curse of being immortal.


End file.
